Very nice, congrats!!

I misread this race. I did not think they would go 23 1/5 and 45 3/5 for the half. Since the race was that slow early it eliminated off the pacers Sun King and Silver Wagon.

Thank you. I just didn't understand how Sun King could go off at 7/2 and Political Force (better than SK last out) could go off at odds of over 20-1. Would have been foolish of me to not take a stab with those odds. I know SK's last was a prep for this one, but I just saw PF as a playback.

I guess the discrepancy in the odds probably had a lot to do with the fact that Sun King has a heart the size of the Belmont grandstand......and his famed steely resolve is the reason for his popularity with so many.

In all seriousness, High Finance could have won this race at a fat price....if only he'd been entered.

They only ran .10 faster than the $46k allowance horses the race before. Pretty sad.

Thanks to everyone who talked me off of Half Ours- the pace wasn't right and I don't think the distance was either. . . Silent Name looked AWFUL before the race- the way they were giving him all that water in the stall made me toss him. . . That left me with Corinthian. . . hehehe

I agree 100%. I was expecting something like 5 or 6 to 1 on Sun King and about 10-1 on Politcal Force.

Not saying someone should have been bet more. Saying that 5 or 6 to 1 in more logical. And this is well stated by Declans.

By the way- Chatain would've crushed this field. . .

The race before it was on a different surface.

However, it was just 0.71 seconds faster than an N2X ALW race earlier on in the card.

that 6th race was a 50k opt/cl and the horses were pretty darn good in that field. they ran the final 1/4 in 23.78 wheras in the Met Mile the final f was 24.48.

Okay, will you who bad-mouthed Ronny agree he belongs in G1 stakes races? A one-turn mile is not his best configuration, but he still beat Silver Wagon, Half Ours, Sun King, Latent Heat, and he was giving weight to every horse in the race except SW. Not much weight, mind you - this isn't really a handicap anymore, it it?

Ron really looked like a pony when he came up next to Corinthian, didn't he? How tall is that sucker, anyway? He looks HUGE.

I thought he was setup perfectly until Edgar moved him a tad too soon. Still a game effort.

his 1/2 brother, 3 yr old Vitruvius, is 2 for 2.

Any time you post about any horse trained by Nick Zito you should include the disclaimer you offered with your previous banned name Eurobounce that you have a personal dislike for the guy. It taints everything you say involving his horses.

Anyone that knows anything about racewatching realizes two things about today's Met Mile.....one - the pace was tepid at best which hampered a deep closer like Sun King and two - a closer like him wants to move outside of horses when rallying and given his absurd ride he had absolutely no chance. However, if you are just molding your posts to suit some personal animus then I guess it is impossible to see things clearly. Or else you just have absolutely no idea how to watch a horse race.

now now pp; this is not pino we're talkin bout.

In need of recap....
 

Who won The Met Mile, and how?

I just like when Prado whipped Political Force in the face, then just pissed him off and he charged up.

i agree. fwiw!!

now, i'm no commentator fan or anything, and i think he's a tad overrated, but i was disappointed zito did not run him in the met mile today, especially since it not only turned out to be as bad as expected, but paceless as well!

Running a 6YO, off multiple injuries, who has had trouble staying sound, in the Met off a nine month layoff isn't exactly the kind of move that lands trainers in the Hall of Fame.

That being said, if he had a prep he might well have dusted that field today, that is unless High Finance had run today instead of yesterday.

.71 seconds faster than He's a Pioneer. Wow! That was some Grade 1 field.

Yes, and He's a Pioneer won while 4 lengths behind a half mile pace of 47.40 (1.70 seconds slower than the Met Mile pace)

That leads me to believe that the pace was fast enough for the closers in the Met.

Sorry DrugS.

No hat for you. That was some ride by Coa on SK. Not saying he was gonna win...but man...tough to win with that assinine ride.

Can you tell me what you thought was so bad about that ride? It's really an honest question and I'm wondering because someone on a different board said that Zito "greeted" Coa in a not-so-friendly way after the race. I've watched the replay a few times and I'm not certain what he did wrong...and I am no Coa fan.

NT

The problem Zito would have with his ride is that riders were avioding the rail all day along--and it didn't appear to be the best place to be, that's for sure, at least from the few horses who decided to race on it during parts of their race.

Sun King has post four---with three quicker horses inside of him---including a rabbit and need-the-lead Half Ours. When you compound that with the fact that all the other riders were out to avoid the rail....and Coa is a rider who likes coming inside of horses when he has an opening....he wasn't a lock to get his circling trip.

The other closer in the race--Silver Wagon--yeah Latent Heat crossed over on him and got him a little rank and he had to steady mildly early in the race---but that was FAR from the kind of trouble Gary Stevens was making it out to be in the TVG coverage...I don't think he lost his focus and gave up there--he just ran like an empty horse.

Well.....I just didnt think the inside part of the track was the place to close with SK. I bet him and would have been happier if Coa stayed on wide a bit and made a run on the outside. Kinda of where the top two ran.

Like you, I am no fan of Coa and would have been much happier with Nakatani (who I also dont really like...tells you how much I like Coa).

I didnt hear about the Zito thing...but I certainly wouldnt blame him. The horse was poorly placed.

Lawyer Ron haters could see it was gonna be bad with the start. He ran way too hard early to catch back up and was game down the stretch going 4 wide on the turn home. I see nothing wrong with the effort except he still cannot relax at the beginning of the race, thus his start doomed him as he put too much effort in early.

Silver Wagon got piled on early. I bet Corinthian for one reason 8-1 (actually went off at 9-1). He was goofy as usually on the turn home but got straightened out late. This was a tough race for a number of horses due to positioning and bad starts. Silent Name had a horrible start.

Corinthinan is still a talented animal who is just too damned quirky to bet on unless you get long odds.

So the race set up very badly for the major players imo.

With the way post positions were---and the way the race was run---it would have taken a pretty good ride for Sun King to get the kind of circle the field trip Zito seemed to want.

Breaking from post 4, he had three speeds to his inside, and Silver Wagon (who broke from post five) was running close to even with him for much of the early running---and not allowing Coa to angle out. He did shake clear of SW, but by the time he did, he had a ways to go to get outside and circle the field. He could have made an effort to split horses---but that wasn't going to be an easy task either....he basically did what comes to natural to him, and dive inside where he knew he could get room.

If the track was fair to all paths---I'd agree that he rode as well a race as could have been expected---but, to angle down on what appeared to be deeper footing inside, with a horse who notoriously has some hang to his run through the late stages....it wasn't a recipe for victory.

There is no love for Corinthian.

Plenty of the players in this race got some messed up moments. But this horse enough speed early on to keep contact (yes I know it was not that fast) and he did his usually tricks on the turn but straightened out nicely.

Corinthian won the MET mile. Congrats to Jerkens for the will the patience to maintain a very difficult horse. He would drive me nuts.

Corinthian is one serious horse. Unfortuneatly ya will never see 9-1 on him again.

it's been fun gentlemen....please retire to your corners.

This post would suggest that he at one time had "it". Isn't this a horse that's been racing sinc 2004 and has YET to win a grade one race? As weak as a lot of grade one's come up, he's still never won one. This is not a coincidence. Sure, he's run some helluva races with efforts that would win more than their fair share of grade ones........but then he's had plenty of opportunities against lesser fields to duplicate those efforts and finally win one and he fails to come through. Every single time. What people fail to realize is that when he comes close to winning, as in last year's Suburban and Met, it's because the winners were running less than their best, not because he ran so great. Good horse. Talented horse. But in his fourth year of racing, with as many chances as he's had......he's just not a grade one horse. Even winning one of these watered down events this year will not change that fact. Winning a grade one doesn't make u a grade one horse.

Do you want to guess what percentage of horses racing since 2004 have won a GR1? Its minute. What is the obsession everyone seems to have with determing who is and isn't a "true GR1" caliber horse? And if there were some objective definition for a "true" GR1 horse, how many Gr1 races are we going to fill if only "true" gr1 horses are entered?

I personally have no problem with a horse trying over and over in tough grade one spots with only occaisonal on the board appearances. I like the determination, the effort, the hope for that sought after big win.
You said even if Sun King wins a Gr1, he will still not be a "true" Gr1 horse. Why don't you just admit you don't like Sun King? There are plenty of other horses that fit this same description that you never talk about.
It always Sun King and Jazil that you keep trying to make these absurd distinctions about.

As predicted, I think an actual rabbit could have done a better job as the rabbit than that slow sprinter.

It's hard to fail as being a rabbit, but Mr. Umphrey accomplished it.

Shouldn't the jock have just been all over him down the backside? It didn't seem like he was really trying to get him to go that fast.